Friendo #1 (Vault): I&N Demand “What business is it of yours” why I’m interested in this book, Friendo? Playin’, B. Yet another fun idea from Vault Comics! I’ve got my good eye on the artist, Martin Simmonds. (He happens to be working with main-man Monty Nero on Death Sentence: Liberty, which I’ve happily backed on Kickstarter–and which should be out soon! Yay! Until then-o, of course, I’ll try-o Friendo.) Let’s see what kind of magic he’s got goin’ on with Alex Paknadel, who, for me, is an unknown quantity. But the prospect of a VR BFF goin’ all 5150’s got me giggling back a few decades to the glorious sigh-fi flick Electric Dreams, which sparked my teen-aged imagination in many ways–one of those ways leading to the beautiful topography of a newly-discovered Virginia. Giggles.

High Heaven #1 (AHOY): I&N Demand AHOY Comics rocked the world a couple of weeks ago with TheWrong Earth; and here’s Tom Peyer, this time teaming up with Greg Scott, ready to hit loftier heights with High Heaven. Hell, yeah!

Big week of books, boys and girls! I had trouble not wielding the I&N Demand designation this time around. I ain’t complaining; but I am cutting this intro short so I can get to the good stuff. To it.

Days of Hate #8 (Image): I&N Demand #7 was brooding, heavy for the wait of it all, and, in that, emotionally affecting enough–the result of the dramatic ménage à trois of Aleš Kot, Danijel Žeželj, and Jordie Bellaire–to demand immediately a 22 I&N 22 from me, awash in a sympathetic afterglow. I want to feel that again. And again.

Evolution #10 (Image)

Ice Cream Man #7 (Image)

Eleven to Eternity #11 (Image)

Skyward #6 (Image): I&N Demand So thrown by the sacrifice, I 22 I&N 22’d #5, another high-flying, peril-full issue from Joe Henderson, Lee Garbett, Antonio Fabela, and Simon Bowland. Now, it’s time to see if Willa–her father’s journal in her hands and a heavy, heavy mandate in her heart–will follow through, if she will do what she needs to do–which is to, you know, fix.the.world. #staygrounded

Black Hammer: Age of Doom #5 (Dark Horse): I&N Demand Re: #4: Jeff Lemire, Dean Ormston, and Dave Stewart serve up some seriously strong women with a lop-sided sack of ineffectual men as garnish. Yeah, the bros are silly sideshows, supplementing the driving feminaction with neutered passivity. But, in the end, the fantasy world in which they’ve been living is a meticulously-plotted perversion of reality, molded by one of their own: it’s, ironically, a phallic safe space hurtling through the heavens. But now that the heroes are woke, that safe space is going to fill up mighty fast–if not with fists, certainly with equally as menacing questions that could blow the ship out of the fucking sky. Man, I can’t wait for answers!

Ether: The Copper Golems #5 (Dark Horse): I&N Demand I knew the end was coming, but that knowledge hasn’t made any softer the blow of the prospect of turning the final page of this inspired, imaginative, and innovative arc of the magical Ether mythos. David Rubín’s ever-moving map of Matt Kindt’s one-of-a-kind mind has led to this; and I, for one, will eagerly yet apprehensively turn every page, and with the last, reflecting, will find satisfaction in knowing that, in having read Ether, I’ve stood atop the comic book equivalent of Everest.

Batman #55 (DC): I&N Demand Breaking News Alert: President Trump has ordered the release of FISA documents, text messages, notes, and other goodies related to the prostate-tickling probe into Russian collusion. And, wouldn’t you know, on the heels of that order, here comes Batman #55, featuring the undeniably Russian KGBeast. Coincidence? I think so. Still, Tom King and Tony S. Daniel better be ready for a tweetstorm–one from a rapidly moving front of loyal readers celebrating what’ll probably be another undeniably brilliant issue of Batman.

Batman: Damned #1 (DC)

Mister Miracle #11 (DC): I&N Demand Mister Miracle is an emotional inter-dimensional teleportation device, and, boy, am I enjoying the ride–in spite of/especially because of the hitting so close to home with the thoughtfully-wrought family dynamic, fraught with effectually infinite frustration and nod-off-and-you’ll-miss-’em microscopic moments of joy. Toss in the, you know, high stakes of the Highfather’s suicidal stratagem, and, well, it is what it is, mister: another goddamned miracle from Tom King and Mitch Gerads. Re: #11: This cover offers up a uneasy inevitability. I’m already feeling it weighing down my arms, my legs–and I’m not even holding the damn thing. Ugh. That menacing sentence: “Darkseid is.” I mean, I know what he can be, and that’s freaking me the fuck out. But, you know–you know what? I am. I am, too. And I know what I am: I am scared. Yeah. I’m not sure I want to read this.

Pearl #2 (DC/Jinxworld)

The Wild Storm #17 (DC)

The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (Marvel)

The Immortal Hulk #6 (Marvel)

Venom #6 (Marvel)

Black Badge #2 (BOOM!): I&N Demand [Due to a quirk in my reading/writing schedule, I wrote a review for BB #1 back in my I&N Store post for books out on 8/8. I’m reprinting it here because it reflects well my initial and my enduring reaction to the superlative first issue.]

I’m kind of a Kindt junkie, and, logically, following with more figurative language, Black Badge is my next fix–oh, and how satisfying #1 was. Exploiting the same chemical formula that worked so well in the intoxicatingly agitative Grass Kings–Kindt+Jenkins^2=masterfully mature storytelling and a well-deserved Eisner nom–Black Badge bursts onto the scene like a nostalgia bomb with a perfectly-paced adventure that calls to mind the ubiquitous kidventure movies of the ’80s (Stand by Me and The Explorers were two of my faves) and mirrors those games my friends and I used to play on the farm, as we’d battle imaginary Nazis or Russians a la Where Eagles Dare or Red Dawn. These kids, however, aren’t playing a game–and neither is the creative team: this is some dark stuff; and like good little scouts, we best be prepared for more. See: “Nobody can do what [they] can do. No one can go where [they] can go.” (Hey! you say? “They”? Doubled for your pleasure, fair reader! OK, you got me: mostly for mine.) For the week [of 8/8], Black Badge #1 is #1 with a bullet drone strike.

Re: anticipating #2, recalling the last page of #1: I’m all-in on the mission. I’m the Fifth Badger headed for the bus. Well, the pre-teen I–drawn out so brilliantly by Kindt and the Jenkinses–am, anyway.

Scott. Escape reader.* Comic book in back pocket, crinkled cover hanging on by a staple. A penchant for mud pies.

Cemetery Beach #1 (Image): I&N Demand Warren Ellis and another out-of-this-world premise–a sci-fi twist on Papillon, perhaps?–that’s good enough for me. Plus: any time I see a title that’s Fill-in-the-blank Beach, I’m taken back to Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach,” and I’m filled with a kind of curdled joy, which is burdensome, sure, but is satisfying, too. The “generations of lunatics,” a phrase borrowed from the Cemetery Beach preview on PreviewsWorld.com reminds–loosely yet lovingly–of the “ignorant armies clash[ing] by night” in Arnold’s lovely yet melancholy lyric poem–an invitation, a commentary, a warning–from 1867. So, yeah: looking forward to this one–even if “Warren Ellis” is, ultimately, the only legit reason for my forward looking.

Mage: The Hero Denied #12 (Image): I&N Demand Well, look at that: I referenced in my write-up for Batman #54 the glorious green bubbles that caught my eye thirty or so years ago–that drew me to Mage: The Hero Discovered and the adventures of Kevin Matchstick–without having seen the cover to this issue. Now that’s magic.

The New World #3 (Image): I&N Demand #2 was fun, fun, fun! Aleš Kot kicked the conflict into high gear; he pushed the peril to the metal: struck by something undefinable while in the midst of a televised takedown, Stella decides to take a risk, trading a seemingly cushy future for, well, a seemingly mushy fugitive. Isn’t that how all great love stories begin? Shifting: Now, I’m not an artist, still I find Tradd Moore’s art humbling. (Heather Moore’s colors are there to rub it in, ain’t they though? They force the eyes wider, and, along with the mister’s living, breathing lines, create an immersive experience that is absolutely exhilarating!) See: each page turn is bigger than the next; and there I am, bearing the weight of the lines and the colors, which support gloriously Kot’s big ideas, and I’m just like Wow. That’s some spinning-in-your-bed while spinning-some-Floyd-vinyl shit going on. “Legendary,” indeed. You know what I need? I need to see this as a cartoon. A big-screen motherfucking cartoon movie. Please make this into a cartoon movie. Thank you. Next up: a little surgery. Goin’ to the scalpel of love…

Oblivion Song #7 (Image)

The Wicked + The Divine #39 (Image)

the seeds #2 (Dark Horse/Berger Books): I&N Demand Loyal readers might remember: I celebrated #1 with a 22 I&N 22; and looking back at the post–proud of that one, for sure!–and at the issue, I’m reminded of the perfection–as seen in the hive, in the perfect-every-time hexagon of the humble honeybee–of the initial offering. Ann Nocenti’s writing is stinger sharp, piercing the part of us that reads and feels and thinks and looks to connect with another afflicted soul–one driven deeper into the comforting yet conflicting chasm of conspiracy, colored, unfailingly by David Aja, a loud khaki green. Fuck. I can’t wait to get my hands on this one.

She Could Fly #3 (Dark Horse/Berger Books): I&N Demand She Could Fly #2 moves– it flies at a pace that reflects well Luna’s undeterred descent into madness, her succumbing to the stressors that surround her, including family, mystery, and–ceiling the deal–gravity. But she’s not the only one falling: oh no: see, everyone around her–and a significant one who was above her–has fallen or is falling in some way, be it morally, mentally, physically, interpersonally. Yup: lots of falling. Any surprise that the issue wraps up in a basement? Christopher Cantwell’s driving home the point–and is driving it down, down, which will make the rise–there’ll be a rise eventually, right?–that much more satisfying, I’m sure. Add to the mix the discomfort drawn into the narrative by Martin Morazzo’s hectic panel work, and the result is a trap that, even in the freedom of chaos, feels increasingly claustrophobic. Bill and Luna might “need to talk,” but, damn it, I need to read. Gimme #3!

Catwoman #3 (DC)

Detective Comics #988 (DC)

Superman #3 (DC)

The Amazing Spider-Man #5 (Marvel)

Daredevil #608 (Marvel)

Fantastic Four #2 (Marvel)

Crossed +100: Mimic #5 (Avatar)

Hot Lunch Special #2 (AfterShock): I&N Demand Well, wasn’t Hot Lunch Special #1 just the biggest surprise? Hell yeah, it was! I ate that shit up and loved every crumb. I was moved to write an inspired 22 I&N 22, and I hopepray expect that Eliot Rahal and Jorge Fornés will move me in much the same manner with this second helping of sandwiches and sumbitches, trucks and ho-lee fucks!

Moth & Whisper #1 (AfterShock)

Volition #2 (AfterShock)

What are you looking forward to this week?

If you were looking forward to Kendall and Grocery Store Joe getting back together–and, why not, while you’re at it, to Astrid and Kevin getting back together–well, then, fellow citizen of Bachelor Nation, you got your wish.

I&N Store–The Back to Work edition. You know what that means: the list may be long, but time is short. To it.

Dead Hand #6 (Image): I&N Demand In #5, Kyle Higgins, Stephen Mooney, Jordie Bellaire, and Clayton Cowles ratchet up the tension by framing a highly-anticipated and well-crafted backstory with, despite the fanciful stakes, uncomfortably real family conflict. See: the stubbornly curious Harriet has been hooked up with the sitch regarding Roger, which seems reasonable–right?–especially as Renae and Carter sense the increasingly-urgent need for a contingency plan, which goes to shit–should’ve seen it coming–with a semi-automatic surprise ending. Reflection: Should. Expect. Surprises. Bookkeeping: there have been some shocking moments so far in Dead Hand. But those moments–they’re far from dead hands themselves; if anything, they’re living feet kicking me to the comic store to get my eager hands on the next issue.

Leviathan #2 (Image)

Paper Girls #24 (Image)

Stray Bullets: Sunshine and Roses #38 (Image): I&N Demand What. A. Trip! In #37, David Lapham revs-up a racing narrative that reflects Beth and Orson’s sex-drugs-and rock-n-roll road trip stumble like a shattered rear-view mirror. “This is fucking gold,” indeed. But as we all know from Frost–and as evidenced by the final splash crash page–“Nothing gold can stay.” Oh, I’m on pins and cactus needles waiting to crack open this one!

Unnatural #4 (Image)

Batman #54 (DC): I&N Demand After the spectacularly-presented spiritual crisis of the finale of “Cold Days,” Tom King and guest artist Matt Wagner–of the magical Mage (God, those beautiful green bubbles drew a bubbly boy to his LCS–the original Amazing Comics–and to the rack in the back way back in the day to discover the hero, who’s still swinging, there’s no denying!)–give us something to believe in.